If the flak is affecting Jordan Pickford , he is not showing it.
Quite the opposite.
England and Everton ’s No.1 regularly trawls through his Twitter feed in the dressing room to take in the reaction to his performances. And it has not been pretty this season.
He was hammered in December for the blunder which gifted Liverpool ’s Divock Origi a 90th-minute winner in the Merseyside derby at Anfield. Boyhood Sunderland fan, and former player for them, Pickford also endured a nightmare at Newcastle this month with an error-strewn display during which he appeared distracted by taunts from the home crowd.
That led to suggestions Gareth Southgate could replace his World Cup keeper with Tom Heaton for Friday’s opening Euro 2020 qualifier against the Czech Republic. Instead, the England boss is standing by his man.
“It’s just social media really, at the end of the day,” said Pickford. “You see it all on Twitter and stuff, and if you don’t laugh you cry, don’t you?”
While you or I might stay away from social media to try to refocus during a bad patch, £30million Pickford is still straight on his phone “within five minutes” of the final whistle.
“It’s about me becoming better as a goalkeeper,” he added. “It’s not about the criticism I’m getting, it’s about how I can go to training and what I can do in training to become better for game day.
“I never go into a game with any doubts. I always feel confident in my ability and hopefully I can be strong mentally. I would say that’s one of the strongest parts of my game.
“It’s weird, because when you turn your phone on, the first thing you do is go on Twitter or Instagram and see what you’ve been mentioned in.
“But every footballer is different, every sportsperson is different.
“Some people read them and have a laugh, some people read them and maybe get offended, and some people might think, ‘How can I get better and not get the criticism?’ ”
The criticism has come thick and fast since Pickford’s heroics at the World Cup.
After the Newcastle game, Everton boss Marco Silva urged him to play with “more emotional balance”.
“With me being a Sunderland lad, in front of 52,000 Newcastle fans hurling abuse for the full game, maybe it did get to me a little bit too much,” Pickford admitted. “But I’m only 25 and that’s how I can improve. Next time I go there, I won’t be getting involved as much.
“Up until then I was doing well, and I think I bounced back from that Newcastle game with a solid performance against Chelsea .”
Asked what the taunts were from Toon fans, he smiled: “Too much stuff! No, just all about being a Sunderland fan and all that. That sort of language.”
With a tribute to the legendary Gordon Banks planned for Friday, Pickford has even more of an incentive to impress at Wembley.
He revealed how Banks had been an inspiration to him ahead of Russia last summer.
“Before the World Cup, every player got a message off a former player in their position,” he said. “He sent me a message.
“I think I will be keeping that for a very long time. It was a nice touch.”